Wikitubia:Interviews/BestGuyEver
This interview was conducted on September 11, 2019 by JakCooperThePlumber. ---- BestGuyEver is a YouTuber with over 100,000 subscribers ---- 'Q1: How and when did you discover YouTube? ' *I was aware of YouTube, like most peole, from early on, but it was my older brother Ben who introduced me into the world of real grassroots independent content creation around 2013 and it was with him I first started creating content at the end of that year. 'Q2: What's your favorite video game? ' *I have a few favorites that shuffle around the top spot, Final Fantasy 7, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Undertale, Sekiro, and a few others. 'Q3: What's your favorite anime? ' *Heh, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Easy answer. B) 'Q4: What's your favorite manga? ' *Another easy top spot: One Piece. 'Q5: Do you enjoy other artistic mediums besides anime, manga, and video games? ' *Absolutely, but in general I definitely focus on these mediums. Easy additional one is TV shows, big fan of shows like Star Trek, The Sopranos, and a million more, I love movies like American Beauty, American Psycho, The Godfather, everything by Kubric and Wes Anderson, etc etc. There’s a ton of music I enjoy, and I’m an open minded guy so I appreciate things like fine classical art, painting, architecture, anything that looks like it has had heart and soul poured into it by someone, I want to know about. But I won’t lie it’s mostly anime and vidya. :dab: 'Q6: What’s your favorite genre in video games? ' *Probably some mix of RPG/Action RPG, like Kindgom Hearts and Sekiro, but I’m also a HUGE fan of Metroidvania 2D side-scrolling action platformers. 'Q7: What’s your favorite genre in anime/manga? ' *Something like hot-blooded manly action undergirded by introspective characters with realistic arcs we can learn from. Some peak examples are Spike and Faye from Cowboy Bebop, for example. 'Q8: Who inspired you to make videos? ' *My brother was the one to suggest it initially, and guys like Digibro and Endless Jess, guys that are now my friends, made me want to make work of my own too. Also its just plain love for the media I consume and a deep desire to express my thoughts on it, which I didn’t get to do much growing up, which I also think I can make entertaining for others lol. That’s always been the main goal of my work. 'Q9: Who are some of your favorite YouTubers currently? ' *Let’s see… Limit Breakers for sure, Red Letter Media, Joe Rogan, Jackisboy is hilarious, can’t wait for more from Manmode and funebure... and there ya go. There’s a few. 'Q10: When and how did you meet your YouTube friends, (Digi, Munchy, Jess, Ben Saint, HippoCrit, ect). ' *Ben’s my brother of course, but the rest I met by making content they liked, and by liking their content, since we were all in the same sphere. This video was actually the impetus for many of us meeting, since me and Ben talked specifically about these other guys: https://youtu.be/Y3mEBQnvteg This general rule applies outside just these guys too. At some point somebody reaches out and you get a dialog going, then presto! You become friends. It’s easy haha. 'Q11: Are you able to enjoy the story of an anime, manga, video game, ect., even if you disagree with the message? Examples? ' *Hmm, I like to think I can enjoy almost anything if it’s quality work, so I’d say yes. For example, I happen to think Tiana from Princess and the Frog, my favorite Disney movie, was already a nearly ideal workaholic person at the start of the movie (since that’s what I want to be), even though we are TOLD she needs to change to be happy. So my beliefs clash a little bit with the movie’s message, but I enjoy the atmosphere and characters so much it doesnt get to a breaking point for me, and I also can appreciate the different perspective of the movie. I like to hear different points of view too, and things like this keep me from being too stubborn about things. 'Q12: Does your family and friends, (excluding your YouTube friends, obviously), watch your videos? If so, what do they think of them? ' *Haha some of them too, embarrassingly enough. Most of them aren’t in the sphere of youtube so they don’t really understand the work, but that’s fine by me. I appreciate that they take the time to look and check in on me, and it makes me proud to produce things they can appreciate and enjoy, even on a surface level. So yeah, it makes me happy… but still a bit embarrassed. :P 'Q13: Do you have a favorite or least favorite video you’ve uploaded (and why)? ' *For least favorite, there’s one or two videos I won’t name, but what irks me about them is simply how much better I’ve become since then and these don’t reflect those improvements and look so ameteur, in one way or another. It’s the nature of the internet, however, that they don’t disappear, and I don’t believe in removing dated work, so I just hope people judge me from my recent work, not my past work. As for favorites, my favorite vids are always gonna be the ones I feel a) conveyed my message the most successfully b) entertained the audience or made a connection with them emotionally and finally c) were the most popular. These are the main factors in judging the success of a vid, imo, but for me the easy answer is: Best Anime Ever - TTGL. Both parts are good, but Part 1, while sloppy in execution at parts, is still something I’m extremely proud of. 'Q14: What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into anime/manga? ' *Hop on in my dude. Couldn’t be easier. Look up a top 10 list and jump in to the creme de la creme. Have a little patience if the first thing you watch doesn’t blow you away, however, as there are some cultural differences with Japanese media you might need to get used to, and of course the first thing you watch or read might not be to your taste. They aren’t gonna be for everybody, but if you think they might be something you wanna check out, I can guarantee there’s some work out there you will love. That’s why I’m still around, baby. 'Q15: What advice would you give anyone looking to start doing media analysis on YouTube? ' *This depends on how you want to live your life tbh. For me, I ask about everything I consume, “would this be interesting to talk about?” but that might be too much for everyone. When you start, instead ask, “what do I have to say about this media that I think is interesting,” or JUST as importantly: “can I say what I think about this in an entertaining way?” That’s another perfectly valid way to operate. Media analysis or otherwise, for people who are starting out and doubting their abilities: you don’t need to answer every question at the start of a project. Just get moving once you have an idea and start recording, start editing. The ideas will just flow, so get the thing going and you will find material to use as you go. Not every project will be 10/10, but you can learn from mistakes or imperfections and make the next project you do even better. Just keep moving, never let yourself get stuck. 'Q16: How do you get inspiration for a video? ' *I never have to think about these things too much. Since I adopted the mindset of a guy who makes videos about stuff a few years ago, now my normal operating process is, upon watching anything: “Would this be a good video?” And then I answer that question for myself! My brain does some pretty good work on its own without me having to do much and fills in a lot of the work as it goes. It’s very convenient! :D 'Q17: If you see anyone discussing a topic that you want to discuss, will that prevent you from making a video on it? ' *Indeed it does, which is why I try to avoid discussion of subjects I plan on talking about and can also sometimes scrap ideas if I feel everything of note has been said already. Other people have different ways of approaching this, and sometimes, like with my TTGL vids, instead I do the opposite and do comprehensive research on what people think of some subject, then you make THAT the premise of your content if you have something to say in response to that. It depends if you are doing a first impressions/review kind of vid or the latter kind of overarching analysis of reactions to the content. Both can be interesting in different ways, but tbh the comprehensive stuff is usually more interesting, it’s just more time-consuming to do lol. 'Q18: APPROXIMATELY how long does it take you to make a video, including scripting, recording, and editing? ' *Hmm, well of course that depends on the type of video. I have wildly varying styles. My first big Best Anime Ever videos took months to finish, with some taking over 6 months while working my full time job, while in general my current WIAGWs generally only take a few days or a week to complete, and I hope to make that process even faster. It all depends! Now that I’m a full-time youtuber, I have a lot more time to work on things, so hopefully everything will get done faster. 'Q19: Currently, your channel has 100,000 subscribers. Did you ever think you would reach this level? ' *Honestly, I did haha. Even starting out I believed I could do it eventually, but a while back I also started to believe that no matter what, I can make entertaining content. After I broke 100k views on a video for the first time with the Galko vid, I believed this was inevitable. I don’t think it’s ego, frankly these days 100k is still only moderate success, seems to me, it’s just an understanding of the tools I have at my disposal and the general way YouTube operates. The prime rule I believe in is: if you make good content that people are interested in, success is inevitable if you just don’t give up. That’s all I did. 'Q20: Currently, your most viewed video is Defying Stereotypes in Oshite! Galko-chan - Best Anime Ever. Does this surprise you, and also are you surprised that it has almost 1 million and a half views? ' *I am floored to this day by the success of that video, but in retrospect I understand it. I worked long and hard on that video, it was one of these >6 months projects working on-and-off, and with an editor, Snooping Turtle, to boot, who did great work, but I never expected this much attention. When you look at the analytics of that video, the comments, and see where it’s shared, it’s clear that this video, in ways I never really intended, appealed in a MAJOR way to female crowds my channel rarely draws. It’s a fascinating thing, because that wasn’t really my intention, I just wanted to call attention to a show I loved, Galko-chan, which happened to be about largely female issues, body image, reproductive issues, how curvaceous women are seen by society, etc etc, through a largely female perspective. Now, I’m a MAN’S MAN, but I appreciate a different perspective when told so well, which is why I loved Galko and still do. Being open minded can be a big asset! I like to think that the success of that video was one of those things: success that just emerges eventually from repeated hard work and honing of your craft. You can’t always plan when something like that will happen, but if you just keep at it, you can get the success you want. Thanks for watching everybody! 'Q21: Have you ever done an interview like this before? ' *I recall at least one interview of this style a while back, possibly more. It’s fun! I hope people enjoy. :3